


Love goes through the stomach

by WildflowerBlossom



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ben and Hux bet, Competitive Behaviour, F/M, Flirting, Food, M/M, Mentions of alkohol/drinking, Multi, No Pregnancy, Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Rey is a teacher, Sleep Disorder sort of, mentions of foster care
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:28:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26344150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WildflowerBlossom/pseuds/WildflowerBlossom
Summary: This season on Galaxy Chef:The judges are intense, the challenges demanding and the competitors ready to fight for the ultimate price:The Galaxy Chef trophy.Who can withstand the heat, the fire and the pressure and become this year's Galaxy Chef.And maybe this year something else will spark.So this is basiclly a Reylo Master Chef Au inspired by various posts from the lovely diasterisms.I will add tags during the process.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 12
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [diasterisms](https://archiveofourown.org/users/diasterisms/gifts).



> PLEASE READ!  
> Hello there, dear person on the other side of this screen.  
> Welcome to the disaster that is this fanfiction. So this is the first fanfiction i ever wrote and I think it shows but non the less I hope you enjoy the mess i created.  
> Thanks again for diasterisms, for the inspiration on Twitter and allwing me to write this down.
> 
> I will add tags as I continue to write this.  
> But a warning ahead: This is a Master Chef Au. It's cooking competition and there will be a lot of food involved. I know this can be triggering for some so i want to get this warning out of the way right now.

~Rey~  
Rey loves teaching. She truly does. Yes children can be a bit much from time to time but seeing them grow (and sometimes seeing them learn to love books as much as she did at their age) is always worth it.  
But in the last few months things changed. The first big change was the change of scenery for Rey. Leaving her first ever teaching job, as a middle school teacher in her small town she called home, for a new job as a high school teacher in a lager city was a big change.  
Even though rent was higher and she now has to share an apartment.  
But it is also one of the best decisions Rey has ever made, because Rose, her sweet extroverted roommate, became her best friend almost the same day as Rey moved in. 

Rose works for a local doll manufacturer as part of their design team. Paige, Rose's sister, is one of the two founders of the company and got Rose the job as soon as she finished college, she was able to join her as a designer.  
"I don't want people to think that I have the position I have because of Paige you know?", Rose told her over dinner the second night after Rey moved in. " So i will work my way up to the head of design. And ", but Rose stopped and moaned. "Fuck Rey this is delicious!"

Rey grinded, while taking a piece of chicken from the plate and took a bite. Cooking was her other passion next to books. There was not a single thing in the world that would cheer her up as cooking and food would.  
"Seriously how can fried chicken have that much flavour?" ,Rose asked before taking another big bite. One thing Rey liked about finger food is that manners don't matter. Especially with something like fried chicken.

Her tableside manners were not the best and she was painfully aware that she was always eating like she will never have food again. When you grow up in some nice homes but in other bad ones these behaviors just stick with you.  
"That's from the herbs and the buttermilk. The longer you marinade the chicken in the mixture the more it absorbs.", she explained. 

"That is it! You will cook from now on. I will not go back to eat instant noodles ever again." Rose declared and Rey laughed.  
"Don't you dare to insult any instant noodle in my present! They got me through college. Or at least after I was caught with my hotplate in my dorm." Both of them laughed and chatted till late that night.

After that they would at least eat dinner together three times a week. And of course Rey cooked it. It became a roommate tradition to turn on the TV for some cooking competition (Rey just cooked better while watching that sort of thing), while Rey worked behind the counter and Roses would draw new designs as they chatted. 

"Have you ever thought about going to a competition?", Rose asked one evening  
"What do you mean?" Rey asked.  
"A cooking competition! You would kick ass. And you might win some good money there. '' Rose explained. " Just imagine all of America watching you cook. And they would get sooo jealous of me."  
Rey chuckled. Rose would always have crazy ideas. (Or at least Rey thought they were crazy)

But at the same time Rose's spontaneous nature was one of Rey's favourite things about her. Especially if it means a spontaneous weekend in New York because Rose felt like it after she had dumped her last boyfriend. 

"First of all you are exaggerating. There are a lot of people out there who don't like and watch TV and even when they have one a lot of them don't watch cooking competitions"  
"I need to see proof for that statement." Rose said.  
"And secondly", Rey just chose to ignore her while shaking her head grinning " Why would they get jealous of you?"  
"Because i am the only one to get to taste your food!"  
" Yes, that is the best reason to go to "Exegols kitchen". Chef Holdo I am here because my roommate Rose wants America to be jealous of her."  
Exegols kitchen was a popular TV show from none other than Amilyn Holdo, arguably the most famous TV chef of all time. She had several restaurants around the world and many TV Shows where she would rip other restaurant owners, chefs and on occasion customers a new one.

"I don't think "Exegols Kitchen" would be right for you. ", Rose said ignoring Rey's sarcasm and handed Rey the plates, Rey gestured towards. " Go to "Galaxy Chef" instead. It is for amateurs and you can still win a lot of money."  
Both of them took their food to the couch and started watching Chef Holdo screaming for lamb sauce.

"I don't know. The application process is supposed to be super long and also they go after character and TV personas not after who is the best cook. " Rey said. The thought had crossed her mind once but she had dismissed it quickly. 

She was a decent cook that's true but she was not the type of personality TV producers would want. "And even if I could get in, what is with my job? I just moved here to work in this school district. If i go away for a few months what would happen to my job? And also who would pay you rent because I couldn't."

" You would just pay me back with your prize money and I think they are in fact shooting the show during summer vacation." Rose said laughing. " Still i think you should at least try. The worst that would happen is that you would get a no."

Rey leaned back and thought for a second as she watched Chef Holdo scream of a salty risotto. The judges were not that hard on Galaxy Chef but would she be able to handle harsh criticism?  
"I rather not. But it is sweet that you think i could do it." Rey finally answered.

Rose was unsatisfied with this answer. Rey had so much potential, she knew Rey would win.  
So a week later while Rey was cooking and humming a song at the same time Rose pretended to be texting on her phone while she recorded Rey. 

~Ben~  
"So your plan is to what? Start living at night and never show your face again? Man Solo i know you like being alone but damn you don't have to go full vampire. ", Hux commented.  
"Did you just come here to annoy me ,Armitage?", Ben knew Hux hated his first name. At least in its full form, the nickname Armie came up once in a while.

"Hey no reason to be mean. I just wanted to see what my best friend does on his work nights. And also enjoying my time off." ,Hux said while raising his cocktail, a gin tonic with cucumber slices, like he was about to do a toast.  
"You had four months time off already, Hux. Have you thought about going into the work field again?", Ben asked.

Both of them met during law school and got employed by the same big law firm. The same firm both of them left together a month ago.  
Working for First Order has been a nightmare.  
Or at least in retrospectiv.

The hours were long and the pressure was of the charts, but Ben would have been able to handle all of that. If it wasn't for his Ex-Boss and CEO of First Order Earl Snoke. He was the single worst human being Ben had to ever deal with. 

In the beginning it seemed all good and the old man was being nice to Hux and him. But slowly things changed. The more Snoke trusted in their loyalty and commitment to First Order, the more his true colors came out. 

He manipulated both men, gave them more challenging cases and tried to break their friendship apart by making them compete for his favouritsim. And it nearly worked. Ben and Hux started yelling at each other more than actually talking and both have felt isolated.

Till one day Snoke made the mistake to give Ben a questionable case. The documents were a little off, numbers didn't make sense and the client just rang all of Ben's alarm bells.  
And Ben turned to Hux with his finds. Together they unrevealed a lot of secrets about first order and their clients and took the evidence straight to the police the morning they both quit. 

First Order and Snoke felt apart quite rapidly.

"I think I will go either into a small firm or start my own practise. You know, choose the clients I want to represent and maybe specialise in new startup companies. But that takes time to plan. ", Hux said, shrugging it off. "We made enough money through that jerk, i don't need to work at the moment" 

Hux had a point. Both of them were well off. Mostly due to the fact that despite all their differences, one of their common grounds was not to throw their money down the drain.

"But stop distracting me.", Hux demanded. "I asked a serious question. Is my best friend going to be nocturnal from now on?"

"If Millicent isn't nocturnal, i would advise you to bring her to a vet, Hux?" Ben answered grinning.  
Millicent was Huxs ginger cat (Ben used to say that Hux and Milli look exactly the same) and if you asked Ben the one reason why Hux was still sane. 

"First of not all cats have nocturnal behavior. Some of them are more on the crepuscular side of the spectrum" , ok only half sane Ben had to admit. "And secondly you are doing it again! You worked at various bars across town for months now Ben. We only get to hang out late and you are still working."

Ben finished the drinks he was working on and gave them to the waitress.  
"As i said a million times before. I need the experience. I want to know how things are running best before I open up my pub. And there is so much I need to figure out.  
For example the food. Do I design the menu or do I let a professional do that? I know my food is good but I don't know if it is, you know, food that one would pay for in an establishment." 

That was Ben's biggest worry, that he would go in over his head. He wanted to open up a pub since one drunken night in law school. But he had never considered it as an actual career option until four months ago. 

"You know what you need my friend? A professional opinion.", Hux said. " Why don't you apply for Galaxy Chef. You have your food judged and you may end up with some exposure." 

That idea wasn't terrible, Ben had to admit. Even if he didn't get a live audition, he would have lost nothing. " That idea isn't bad. And if i win i get a decent amount of money for my Pub.", Ben stated. As soon as he said those words, Hux started laughing. "Winning. You wan-wanna win? Hahaha no way Ben. Not gonna happen."  
"Hey i won't go to a competition without the drive to win it", Ben took a towel and hit Hux with it.

"Hey I am a customer, pay some respect", Hux laughed. "But in all seriousness, you are good but i don't think you will be that good."  
And that statement triggered Ben's drive to show everybody who ever said to him "you can't do it", that he indeed could do it. 

"For someone who thinks I won't win, you invite yourself to dinner a lot. We both know that if I wanted to, I would win this thing."  
Ben's voice was filled with determination. And at that moment Hux knew that Ben would do this.

" Let's make it interesting.", Hux proposed. "If you lose I will get free food and drinks at your pub for all eternity. The same goes with any guest I bring." 

"And i wanted to put up a sign which states 'No dating the ginger in the back' ", Ben smirked. " But ok you get free food and drinks. But no more than two guests at a time." 

"Then that's settled", Hux said triumphantly.  
"Wait a minute, what do I get when I win?"  
"Which you won't so we don't have to think about it." Hux smikred. He knew how to get a reaction out of Ben.

" WHEN I win you will have to be a waiter two nights a week for two months long...", Ben stated. Ha had the perfect idea for his friend. But Hux cut him off.  
"A waiter that's all? You got soft, Solo."  
"... while wearing an outfit of my choice", Ben finished his scentes unimpressed.

"And what may that be, Solo?" ,Hux teased.  
"I will think of something. Fairy costume, sexy nurse, an inflatable dinosaur." Ben knew that Hux would have the perfect legs for a Fairy costume.

"You won't go through with it, Solo. You're too stuck up to let someone work like that at your pub.", Hux said grinning.  
"Well, one way to find out ,Armitage."

Hux let his head throw back in his neck while he burst out laughing.  
Ben smiled. It was way too long that he had seen his best friend so amused and stress free.

"Since you won't win sure lets bet on that.", agreed Hux. "Make sure you will always have a table set up for me."  
"In your dreams", Ben replied, his voice filled with determination. 

"So deal?" Ben held his hand in front of Hux.  
"Deal", replied Hux, shaking Bens hand.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ:  
> I am so sorry it took me so long to update this! I had a really hard time writing this.  
> Anyway i hope nobody was waiting for an update. 
> 
> Also i sort of updated the taggs. Idk if i missed anything that i should tag so please if anyone notices anything let me know and i fix it right away!
> 
> With this out of the way i hope you enjoy!

-Ben-  
"I can't believe you made it to the recorded auditions. It is unbelievable. Are there no standards anymore for national television", Hux complained. He has been complaining ever since he had set a foot in Han's Car. 

" Have you ever turned the TV on in the last few Years, dear?", Leia asked. "It is horrible. Easpacily all those reality tv shows. It is an absolute disgrace." Leia frowned her eyebrows, while shaking her head.   
She sat on the front seat and had her head turned backwards where Ben and Hux were sitting. And Ben had the same feeling of embarrassment, he felt after Baseball practise in middle school.   
At the same time Ben and his long legs were really uncomfortable but he would give up the front seat for his mother anytime. 

Han started laughing. " You're the one to talk, dear. " he said, while maintaining to look at the road. " That reminds me,how the season start of 'Bachelor', Darling?"

"Oh shut it Han", Leia exclaimed while touring to Han. "It is not the 'Bachelor'. I only watch Bachelorette."   
Then she turned her head backwards again and raised her hand to pretend that she whispered. "It is an excellent way to have an excuse to look at fine men." 

"Hey i heard that." "Urgh, Mom!"   
While Han was being jookingly offended and Ben covered his face in his hands out of embarrassment, Hux and Leia started laughing really hard.

"Why did i invite any of you to come with me to live auditions?" Ben asked. " Oh wait I didn't, you all just invited yourself and planned this whole trip. I still don't know how you even got Armitage's phone number, Mom."  
At the mention of his full leght name Hux hit Ben's arm jokingly. 

"Don't be silly, dear. You would have asked me and your father anyway and you would have also invited Armi anyways just to rub it in his face. So no harm done."   
Ben had to admit that Leia's description was pretty accurate. 

"I still don't get that silly bet of yours." Leia continued.

"Yeah, it's only a real bet when there is money involved." Han said, earning a stern look from Leia. "DON'T GIVE THEM IDEAS!" 

This right here was Ben's personal hell. Hux would have so much blackmailing material after this car ride. Ben would never be able to disagree with him on anything. Hux would always get his way from now on and Ben would be a mere servant for his best friend. 

"Mom, you do realise that Hux and I are in fact, full grown adults? We knew from the start that we could bet for money but it's kind of silly when neither of us uses more than we have to. Besides letting him and whatever imaginary companion eat for free forever will be a bit financially draining."

"Yes Ben I am aware of that. Oh also did Chewie talk to you?" Leia asked, turning back to him.

"He called me this morning but I was busy packing my last things and I haven't had the chance to call him back. Do you know what he wanted?" Chewie was Hans' oldest and closest friend and an unofficial uncle to Ben (though to be fair Ben had a lot of people he called aunts and uncles who weren't related to him in the slightest).

"The person who inherited the old closed bookshop downtown, is going to sell the building. It might still take awhile to clear the place out and he will do some general work, like treat molt, you know to hike up the price, but after that it will go on the market.", Leia said excitedly. 

Ben knew that Leia was well aware of the fact that the old bookshop was once her son's favourite place in the city. After hearing that the old owner passed away years ago, Ben thought about buying the place and turning it into his bar. The location was perfect and the old industrial style was definitely one of Ben's favourite design ideas. 

But when he reached out to the new owner, who is a regular client for this uncle Chewie's vintage motorcycle repair shop, a few months back, he only said that he still hasn't made up his mind about the building. 

So the news that he wanted to sell the building after all was quite the shock to Ben.  
"That's great news! I will call Uncle Chewie once we are there. Maybe he can convince the owner to sort of reserve it for me. Or maybe you or dad could do a tour. And send me pictures." 

Hux huffed at that. "You talk like you already know you will be gone for the hohle 2 and ½ months." 

"Let me stop you right there, Honey", Leia intervierned. "Last time you said something like that Ben made it to live auditions. Do you really want to jinx your bet for you?" 

"On whose side are you on, mom?"  
"My wife is right, Hux. Never say something like that out loud. Even when you are a thousand percent certain that you will be right, it always jinxes it." Han agreed with his wife. 

"Gee guys thanks for all the encouragement." Ben complained. There was a time where he would have meant these words. Back when he felt unloved and alone. He had cut off any form of communication, when he went to college on scholarship. And the anger about all the lost moments and his partial neglect had still burned in him years later, while working for First Order.

But those days were past him. After the day he made up with Hux he called his parents for the first time in fourteen years. And now he was grateful for everyday he got to spend with his parents.

"We fully support you, Ben. You know that'', Leia said more seriously. They definitely made up and now spend a lot of time together, especially since Han and Leia now started living in Ben's old hometown. While it wasn't directly close to the city Ben was living in, it still was way closer than New York, the city Ben had lived since law school. It was also quite the drive from LA where the auditions were held but in typical Han fashion Ben's father convinced everyone to make a small road trip out of it. Ben wasn't sure how he convinced Leia though. (But he also had a suspicion and he didn't want that detail.)

"Yeah i know, Mom. I am glad you guys are there." And he meant that. Despite everything that had happened he still loved them. Even when a few things never were brought up.

The conversation shifted to a new topic after that. Namely the judges of the competition. 

"Was there an announcement for the third judge this year? They changed them so much over the years I can't follow." Han asked. While this mix of reality Tv and a competition was never Hans style, he liked to watch cooking shows. Ben actually learned a lot from him.

" I don't know, dear. But I hope that they stick with Finn Storm. He has an eye for good food, he pushes the contastend in the right direction, always being constructive and nice, while at the same time not letting anyone get away with bullshit." 

" I hope you're right, Mrs Orga- Leia" , Hux said.  
"I really liked him. Gave the show a new kick. I hope he sticks around." 

"I thought you said you didn't turn on the TV in years, Hux", Ben commented. He would never let his best friend get away with anything. It was the little jokes like this, that Ben valued a lot in their friendship.

"I didn't but we happend to watch one or two episodes of the last season together remember? We were hanging out and i made a joke about how you haven't been on a date for years right before i told you i set you up with an client of mine because she was really tough to   
work with amd had the hots for you? The one I thought would give me a less hard time after I did her that favore, only to be fooled because she wanted to have her case transferred to you. And was even more nasty because you had quote "too much to do" end quote?"

Yes, Ben remembered her. Even though he wasn't interested in this woman in her late twenties, who tried to get the paperwork in order after her late father left her his company, he at least was a gentleman. Brought flowers with him, took her out to dinner, and didn't interrupted her boring stories once. It was one of the better dates Ben has had in his life. 

" BENJAMIN CHEWBACA SOLO, you went on a date and didn't tell me!", Leia nearly screamed. One of her favourite topics across the last weeks was his love life. Non Existent love life to be more accurate.

"That was a year ago, Mom. I can't even remember her name." Ben said honestly. He always had been bad with names and had written himself flashcards to learn them for social work events. 

"Still it is nice to know that your friend looks out for you. Even if he had alternative motives" Leia winked at Hux, who winked back. All four of them burst into laughter at this.

It took the. Several more hours to get to the big hotel where all contestants would stay during the taping. 

During the walk from the lobby to his room, he walked way too close to the wall because he packed his glasses in the suitcase, which was a terrible idea for a man who could not read signs which are only a few meters ahead without glasses or lenses. This is why he bumped into someone who stepped out of the room next to his.

-Rey-  
" I can't believe we are really here. I made it to the audition round! ME ROSE!" Rey said excitedly as she and Rose dragged their suitcases down the hall of their hotel. Tomorrow the taping for the audition would start. 

When Rey first got a letter from the producers she was in shock but she also knew immediately that Rose had somehow managed to fill out all the forms and to tape her during one of her cooking sessions. Maybe she had been a tiny bit angry at Rose for a moment. But when she read the letter and saw that she got in she had been so excited she jumped on to Rose the moment she walked through their doors. 

Both have been so happy that she made it, they went out to a bar on a spontaneous, work night trip. Rey had regretted it the next morning especially since her first class of the day was her least quiet one. 

But after a talk with the princable the thought of really trying to win this competition, was on Rey's mind at all times. She had started to cook like a maniac about three weeks before summer vacation and four weeks before having to fly out to LA. While it was a lot of food, neither Rose or her colleagues were complaining about all the leftovers. And nothing went to waste. Her school even raised money for her at a basketball game from their school team, by selling snacks. 

When the money was gifted to her at the last week of school she tried to reject it, by saying that they should rather buy new equipment for some of their less sponsored classes. (Mr. Johnson has been complaining about the lack of funding for the music classes since Rey started working there) But all of the faculty and a lot of the students have insisted that Rey takes the money to pay for the stay (since Rey had to pay for half of her Hotel stay by herself), flight and part of the rent she would still need to cover. 

She only accepted the money after she got a written agreement that stated that in the event of her losing the competition she would give back the money she had left after being eliminated. 

With that in place and a lot of "Good luck" wishes and an ironic "If you must be eliminated, get kicked out at the beginning. We could afford several full band equipments that way." from Mr. Johnson, she and Rose, who got a week vacation to do this, flew to LA.

"Well I had to say i told you so, but i told you so!", Rose said walking next to her. Both walked fast to their rooms. They arrived just after the check in time and would now have the chance to go explore the city for a while.

"So i want to shower first before we go out." Rey said standing before Rose's door. Both of them had different hotel rooms, since Rey would hopefully stay a lot longer than Rose. 

"You know you could have showered before we left. But no you had to pack the rest of your things." Rose said, while rolling her eyes at her.   
"It would help if you made a checklist once in awhile" 

"I know, I know. I was just so excited I started packing and fell asleep at some point. And when I woke up I already overslept and i had no clue what i had packed till then." Rey had always trouble sleeping. And it only got worse through her time in foster care.

She would get really emotional at night, whether it is angry, sad, scared or nervous, Rey really started to miss a lot of sleep and would only find a good night sleep once the thing that was on her mind was solved. This pattern carried on into her adult life. So last night was an extremely rare occasion. She hasn't slept nearly enough the last week so her body just gave in. (And honestly it was one of the better sleeps Rey had since she learned that she got the audition).  
Rose even had to wake Rey up, which had never happened before.

"I know, Rey." Rose answered. She knew about her Friends struggles. And while sometimes not understanding her on an experienced based level, Rose has been nothing but empathic to Rey. "So how about this, you go shower while I unpack. We meet in the lobby in an hour." Rose proposed. 

"Yeah let's do that" Rey said. "I will see you in an hour." She turned and started walking towards the elevator. The candidates were all housed on one floor and already had a room in case that they made it past the audition. Rey was a bit uncomfortable with that, because Rose had to spend a lot of extra money just to support her. When she had mentioned as much, Rose had told her that she would love to support Rey and that Rey wouldn't be able to change her mind. 

Rey really appreciated that. Even though they only met a few months back, their friendship ran deep and Rey believed with her whole heart that it would last a lifetime. 

"And don't be late! It's not everyday that we are on the West coast." Rose shouted behind her, as Rey waited for the elevator. Rey just made an air kiss towards Rose. 

So Rey took an elevator up to her floor and went to her room. It was an average hotel, with one Queen Size bed in the room and a rather small but clean bathroom connected to it. It was nothing grand but workable.

She put her suitcase on the bed and searched for comfortable clothes to wear and went to get a shower. It was in the shower, where humankind has its best ideas and existential crises, that it really hid her that she would need to cook tomorrow. Not in a cosy environment like her home but in a pressure situation. She would need to perform really good to be able to make it into the competition itself. 

While Rey loved challenges she felt uneasy about pressure situations. She never liked them and had been in too many that were crucial. So she lost herself in thought about the next day and going over her audition dish one more time in her head. 

And of course she ran late. After she went out of the shower and checked the time she noticed that it had taken way too long and that she needed to hurry up. 

She hurried to get dressed, nearly stumbling into the TV while trying to tie her shoes and searching for a bag to pack her purse and phone into, nearly forgetting the hotel keycard. 

She rushed out of her room, swinging the door open with a bit much force and ran into someone who was walking way too close to the wall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all for reading!   
> Idk when i will be able to post another chapter since college is really hard this semester. But i hope it will be january or even sooner. No promises though. 
> 
> Thank you again for reading my stuff.

**Author's Note:**

> So you made it. Thank you for reading this mess. I hope you liked it.  
> Constructive criticism is more than welcome.  
> I hope you all have a nice day!


End file.
